Spending by Chinese tourists in Dublin outpacing other key markets

Retail spending growth in the capital so far this year has been largely driven by a 21.1% increase in expenditure in hotels, bars and restaurants. 

Spending by Chinese tourists in Dublin is growing at a much faster rate so far this year than any other key tourism market, new data from MasterCard shows.

The latest MasterCard SpendingPulse report, produced on behalf of the four Dublin local authorities, shows that during the first three months of the year, spending by Chinese tourists in Dublin grew by 18.2% compared to the October to December 2022 period.

This rate of growth in the capital outpaces spending by other key tourist markets such as France, Germany and UK which saw growth during the same period of between 6% to 7%. 

Expenditure by American tourists recorded its second consecutive quarterly fall in the capital, declining 7.7%.

While the recent downward trend of spending by American tourists would usually be a cause for concern, given the importance of the market, the report notes that the recent State visit by US President Joe Biden “reportedly caused a surge in bookings amongst US tourists and may be a timely fillip in terms of spending from this market”.

Overall tourism in the capital spending rose by 7.3% while national tourism spend increased by 6.5%. On an annual basis, tourism spending in the capital grew by 15.3%.

However, it seems that Chinese visitors are spending most of their money in Dublin while other key markets are looking to spend in other parts of Ireland.

Nationally, French tourists spent 30.1% more so far this year compared to the final quarter in 2022 while American tourists spent 10.2% more.

The report said that this most recent expansion in the tourism sector is a “signal that the recovery in global tourism is broadening in the post-pandemic era”.

The report also shows that between January and March, general retail spending in the capital grew by 5.8%, compared to the same period in 2022. This was primarily driven by a 21.1% increase in expenditure at hotels, bars and restaurants.

Stubbornly high inflation is also leading to an 8.4% spending growth on necessities such as food in Dublin. Discretionary spending grew by 5.2% while spending on household goods grew by 4.25.

Nationally, spending grew by 6% year-on-year driven by an increasing spend on entertainment which grew at 47.9% surpassing pre-pandemic levels. Necessity sales and discretionary sales recorded growth of 8.9% and 6.4% respectively.

Growth in spending on eCommerce platforms slowed nationally, increasing at a rate of 5.2% year-on-year.

Michael McNamara, global head of SpendingPulse at MasterCard, said the latest figures are “solid results” for both Dublin and Ireland as entertainment, travel, and tourism spending continued to recover.

“Both discretionary and necessities spending showed solid growth rates in the mid-single digits while household goods spending lagged somewhat in both Dublin as well as across Ireland.”